


I Never Thought We Would Have A Second Chance (And Yet Here We Are)

by msgeekstyle



Series: Evil Author Day 2021 [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Evil Author Day, Evil Author Day 2021, Feanor's A+ Parenting, our fav Fëanorians trying to save people, the bois are sent back in time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29462160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msgeekstyle/pseuds/msgeekstyle
Summary: Maedhros was sure a jump into an active volcano would kill him. Imagine his surprise when he woke up back on the boat that had carried him to Middle Earth in the first place.
Relationships: Maedhros | Maitimo & Maglor | Makalaurë
Series: Evil Author Day 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2163963
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	I Never Thought We Would Have A Second Chance (And Yet Here We Are)

They were so close, so very  _ close _ . And then they finally had them  _ back _ . The Silmarils. Their father’s greatest creation. Maedhros felt as if he was flying, there had never been a greater triumph in his life.

And then it all came crashing down.

He doesn’t remember, afterwards, how he escaped the guards. Doesn’t remember how he got to this place. The space where his memory was supposed to be was taken over by a flash of light and white noise.

What had he  _ done _ ?

So much pain and suffering, so much  _ death _ . For what? The approval of a man that threw his own life away the first chance he got? It sounded laughable, a hollow excuse even to his own ears.

But even so, he couldn’t let go of the shining gem in his hand. No matter that it burned his hand, burned through the flesh and the sinew down to the bone. His mind was screaming, begging to let go, let the cursed thing fall and be destroyed, but his body wouldn’t listen.

The heat was enough to singe his hair and the smell of sulphur that penetrated the air made it hard to breathe. He didn’t know where Maglor had gone, only hoped his brother was stronger than him.

The hand holding the Silmaril hoverd over the edge he had found himself on and it should be so easy to just let it fall. But his body wouldn’t listen. The light that so closely resembled that of the Two Trees pulsed lightly as if alive. And wasn’t it, in a way? No regular object existed that managed to corrupt the mind quite like this one

Oh, but wasn’t it beautiful? A marvel, a true masterpiece of his father’s craft. It would be a shame - 

_ NO! _

He forced his eyes shut, trying to block out the voice whispering in the back of his mind. No, the  Silmaril had to be destroyed. He took a deep  breath, his mind made up.

Maedhros jumped.

*

He expected the heat and fire and  _ burning _ and maybe nothingness after. Or perhaps punishment in the halls of  Mandos if the Valar somehow felt him to be deserving of ever being among his own kind again. 

But that’s not what happened. 

First there was sheer nothingness . And then... wind? 

Yes, that was the sound of wind. He took a deep breath. Was that salt? Now that he paid attention to his  surroundings he could feel a very distinctive rolling motion... His eyes flew open and he scrambled to sit up, only to be met with a  _ thud _ and a blunt pain in his forehead. Rubbing the painful spot he sat up more carefully.

He was on a ship. And not just any ship. No, he recognised this one and it made his stomach turn with the memory of what had come after. Was this some elaborate form of torture, making him relive the time when it all started going downhill?

But then, wouldn’t that moment have been earlier? When he took that damn oath, or even before, when he decided to follow his father in the first place? 

Or had it all been a dream, some kind of elaborate vision of what was to come? No, he discarded that option almost immediately. Foresight had never been one of his talents and all the accounts of it that he’d heard had spoken of short, disjointed glimpses, not the whole thing laid out in chronological order.

He almost screamed when somebody jumped down next to him before remembering that  _ he bunked with Maglor, of course he had, that’s how it had always been. _

His brother only looked at him, looked at him silently in that way that always made him feel exposed in a way nobody but he and his mother had ever managed to, as if all his thoughts were laid bare for the other to pick through. He had despised it, once upon a time, but it was oddly comforting now.

“You have seen it too.”, he stated and without waiting for a response scrambled to sit on the foot end of the bunk Maedhros was still occupying. The older brother sighed and moved his legs out of the way. In his experience Maglor would not be deterred if he didn’t and simply get comfortable on top of them.

“You have seen it too.”, he repeated, quieter this time, and Maedhros nodded. Then, after thinking for a moment, asked “How did it end for you?” Maglor had been nowhere to be seen at the end and he couldn’t remember them talking about splitting up.

His brother was chewing on his nails, a nervous habit Maedhros had last seen him do when he first started courting his wife, and he kicked him lightly to get him to stop. Maglor didn’t even glare at him for it. “I threw mine into the sea. Let Ulmo deal with it.”, he worried his bottom lip with his teeth.

“Then you are stronger than me.” Maedhros was about to lean back before remembering that boats were most definitely not made for his height, not that many things ever were, and instead stayed in his crouched position. Gaze fixed firmly on his lap he added “Found a chasm of fire but couldn’t let go, so I jumped.”

There’s a sharp gasp and then there were hands on his shoulder, pulling him in, and then his brother was hugging him and Maedhros didn’t cry, didn’t allow himself to, but nevertheless he clung to Maglor. Maglor who was always there, unfailingly, no matter what had happened.

They stayed like that for a while, both needing the reassurance that the other was there and whole and alive.

“What do we do now?”, Maglor whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” the other pulled back “We have obviously been sent back. What do we do now?”

Maedhros raised one eyebrow.  _ Obviously? _

Maglor sighed as if he had missed something important. “Don’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“The oath. It’s gone.”

Oh. 

_ Oh _ .

His brother was right. That eternal pushing and pulling in his  fëa , that towards the end had felt more like a sore and inflamed wound than anything else, was gone.

Maedhros couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so light.

He took a second just to breathe before answering Maglor’s question. 

“I don’t know,” he said slowly “My best guess is that we are supposed to stop them.” They both knew who he was talking about. He sighed, and shrugged. “But what and how exactly I have no idea.”

Maglor chewed on his thumb again. Maedhros kicked him and he reluctantly stopped and started fiddling with his wedding band instead. When had he last seen her? Was it three days ago? Or had it been centuries already? He didn’t know, but he had a feeling that they wouldn’t be reunited anytime soon.

“Do you really think we can save them?” His brother sounded hopeful and Maedhros silently cursed himself.

“I’m not sure,” he answered, “We can only try.”

*

In the end it didn’t matter. Maedhros often asked himself if he should’ve tried harder, should have somehow done  _ more _ to convince their father to let it rest, but deep in his heart he knew there was nothing to be done about it. His father had chosen his path and nobody in all of Arda would change his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> As with the other works in this series:
> 
> Do I plan on finishing this? Yep.
> 
> Do I know when or how long that will take me? Nope.
> 
> In the meantime, have my [tumblr](https://msgeekstyle.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Comments are always appreciated <3


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